David Lynch

Director, Screenwriter, Producer

Much like his body of work, David Lynch often defied tidy description. As a filmmaker it was possibly more instructive to refer to him as a surrealist artist working in the medium of film, rather than a traditional ... Read more »

Much like his body of work, David Lynch often defied tidy description. As a filmmaker it was possibly more instructive to refer to him as a surrealist artist working in the medium of film, rather than a traditional movie director and writer. With his first self-produced film "Eraserhead" (1978), it was clear that Lynch held a deep fascination with the utterly grotesque residing just below the surface of the everyday. He would use that fascination to his advantage with his second film, the hugely successful "The Elephant Man" (1980), only to be dealt a bitter blow by the disastrous, costly experience of "Dune" (1984). However, with the quasi-autobiographical thriller "Blue Velvet" (1986), Lynch would establish a thematic aesthetic - dubbed "Lynchian" - that he would continue to evolve throughout his career. He also had tremendous, albeit brief, success in television with the series "Twin Peaks" (ABC, 1989-1991), a murder mystery that temporarily tapped into the American zeitgeist. In the wake of the series' end, there were missteps and disappointments for Lynch, such as the exceedingly violent "Wild at Heart" (1990) and the almost universally reviled "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (1992). And yet, Lynch's resolve to make his films his way remained resolute. As did his ability to confound and surprise audiences, exemplified by films like the truly mind-bending "Lost Highway" (1997) and the heartfelt "The Straight Story" (1999). Moving into the 21st Century, Lynch continued to defy conventions - as well as traditional narrative structure - with films like "Mulholland Dr." (2001), even as he contributed voice work for a cartoon sitcom, delivered the daily Los Angeles weather report on his personal web site, and filmed an info-movie for Christian Dior - very Lynchian, indeed.

Collaborated in "Twin Peaks" series and film, "Lost Highway" (1997), and "Mulholland Dr." (2001) Married May 10, 2006 Filed for divorce in June 2006, one month after getting married Divorced Feb. 12, 2007

Created a series of online shorts "Dumb Land," which were intentionally crude both in content and execution; the eight-episode series was later released on DVD

2002

Helmed "Rabbits," an 8-episode series of short videos shown exclusively on DavidLynch.com for paying members

1999

Helmed the pilot "Mulholland Drive" for ABC; series not picked up; Lynch received additional funding from StudioCanal and shot more footage to create a feature film; premiered at Cannes in 2001 where it shared the Best Director trophy; (released theatrica

1999

Directed the atypically based-on-fact "The Straight Story," about a man who drove a tractor from Iowa to Wisconsin to reunite with his estranged brother

1997

Helmed TV commercial for the home pregnancy test Clear Blue Easy

1997

Ran off the road with "Lost Highway," a great-looking but senseless, overlong, post-modern hybrid of film noir and "The Twilight Zone"

Executive produced "Nadja" (and played a small part as Morgue Attendant)

Served as creator, executive producer, and director of the premiere of ABC's short-lived (six episodes) "On the Air"

1992

Made television commercials for Gio, the perfume by Armani(1992), for a coffee drink Coca-Cola markets in Japan (1993), and for Alka-Seltzer Plus (1993); also directed a teaser-trailer used to market Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" album

1992

Returned to "Twin Peaks" land with feature "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (also co-executive producer); wrote 11 songs

1991

Executive produced "The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez"

1991

Directed the music video for Chris Isaak's song "Wicked Game"; song featured in the soundtrack to "Wild at Heart"

1990

Created and directed episodes of popular TV series "Twin Peaks" (ABC)

1990

Directed TV commercials for the perfumes Opium and Obsession

1990

"Wild at Heart" won the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at Cannes Film Festival but met with critical disfavor in the U.S.; last feature collaboration (to date) with Frederick Elmes

1989

Composed musical work "Industrial Symphony No. 1" with Angelo Badalamenti; performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November; made video in 1990

1987

Produced and wrote for singers Julee Cruise and Koko Taylor (songs used in his films "Blue Velvet" and "Wild at Heart")

1987

Wrote and presented documentary on Dadaist cinema "Ruth roses and revolver" for British TV series "Arena"

1987

Won acclaim (and second Best Director Oscar nomination) for the controversial "Blue Velvet"

1984

First project with actor Kyle MacLachlan, "Dune"; feeling like "I had sort of sold myself out," Lynch later forced the removal of his name from the film's credits

1983

Created and illustrated syndicated comic strip "The Angriest Dog in the World"

1980

Earned first Oscar nomination as Best Director for "The Elephant Man"; also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay (co-written with Eric Bergren and Christopher DeVore)

1977

"Eraserhead" released

1970

Began working on first feature "Eraserhead"; first feature collaboration with cinematographer Frederick Elmes and actor Jack Nance

1969

Made first short live-action film "The Grandmother"; received grants that totaled $5,000 by American Film Institute (completed film for $7,200)

1967

Made short film combining animation and live action, "The Alphabet" as entry in Pennsylvania Academy contest

1966

First film, a one-minute color animated loop entitled "Six Men Getting Sick" shown on three skull-shaped screens (based on Lynch's head) to the accompaniment of a siren (date approximate)

Worked as shop assistant, engineer, janitor, newspaper deliverer, in between studies

As a child, lived in Sandpointe and Boise, ID, Spokane, WA, and Alexandria, VA

When Lynch was a child, his father used to drive him into the deep woods, drop him off, then go to his job as a scientist for the Forest Service. He would leave young David completely alone, surrounded, as the filmmaker once told Time magazine, by "the most beautiful forests, where the trees are very tall and shafts of sunlight come down in the mountain stream and the rainbow trout leap out."

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Lynch's interest in furniture making started at an early age, when he hung around his father's wood shop, learning how to use tools and mastering the fundamentals of building. Though he often built furniture for his movies, his first professional efforts at marketing his furniture came in the early 1990s when he sold a tiny expresso table (priced at $600) through Skankworld, a vintage furniture store in Los Angeles. He showed his attractive Club Table, an effective marraige of wood and steel, which comes with special recessed areas to hold drinks, at the prestigious Salone Del Mobile in Milan and had an agreement with a Swiss Company to produce his pieces on a limited basis.

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About the failure of "Wild at Heart" and "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me": "When you love something and feel you've done it correctly, then negative criticism doesn't hurt so bad. I love those movies. But in order to say you're successful, a film has to make quite a lot of money, and I haven't really done that. If I was successful in that way, I'd be...I don't know, making pictures maybe more within the system." – Lynch to Rolling Stone, March 6, 1997

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Lynch launched a members-only web site at www.davidlynch.com in December 2001.

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He served as president of the jury at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

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Lynch, along with Mel Brooks, received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute on June 13, 2012.